AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for, the birth of the twins! It's finally happening! And it's up the day after the previous chapter. You lucky muhfuckers :p I did a lot of research for the twins' names. Abraxas (pronounced like Ab-racks-us), "the power above all," is the name of a Basilidian god, who was believed to be the Supreme Being. His name is composed of the seven Greek letters that form the number 365, the number of days in a year. His name is also the origin for the word abracadabra. Acheron pronounced like Ak-er-on), the River of Pain, is one of the five rivers of the Greek underworld. The river Styx is said to spring from it. I'm all about unconventional names (but some people get ridiculous) for kids. It makes them all the more unique. And of course Pinhead's twins are going to be some of the most unique individuals ever; they needed names that reflect this.
Chapter 7: Abraxas and Acheron
Pinhead and the Order of the Gash had been in council for two days, debating on how to approach the situation. Leviathan remained silent and the Order was worried that it was a bad omen. Adrian was growing restless.
"What's taking them so long?" he whined to Victoria. "How the fuck do they communicate anyway? Most of them don't even talk."
"They have their ways," Victoria said. She had been pacing for the past few hours, looking anxious. The Chatter Beast was following her. It let out a barely audible whimper from behind its ever-chattering teeth. Victoria let out a soft groan.
"Are you okay?" Adrian asked.
"Yeah," she grimaced. "Advanced pregnancy is kinda uncomfortable."
Adrian looked skeptical.
"You're sure?"
"Yeah, Adrian. I'm fine."
"Okay," he said, still unconvinced.
But in reality, Victoria was less than okay, in fact, she felt terrible. What had begun as a dull ache in her lower back had become an uncomfortable pain that had extended to her lower abdomen. They felt like menstrual cramps from Hell (no pun intended). She didn't want to worry Adrian any more than he already was. The delay in action had him on edge. Victoria knew that the others weren't too willing to risk so much on a human, especially without Leviathan's guidance. She also knew that Pinhead was their leader and that most of them were fiercely loyal to him. They'd come around…eventually. It was the eventually that worried her.
A sudden, agonizing cramp shot through her lower abdomen. She tried to stifle a cry, but failed. Adrian jumped off the bed and the Chatter Beast let out a louder whine.
"What happened?" Adrian asked, wrinkling his brow in concern.
Victoria just gasped in response as her water broke. Her companions jumped back in alarm, but the Chatter Beast, always curious of bodily fluids, cautiously sniffed at the clear puddle. A third, even louder whine, escaped his maw.
"Fuck," Victoria muttered. "Beast, take Adrian to Pinhead."
The Chatter Beast seemed to bow, and then turned to nudge Adrian out the door.
"But…" Adrian stammered.
"GO!" Victoria screamed. "Tell him his sons are eager to make an appearance."
Adrian followed the frantic canine into the corridors. He'd never run so fast in his life. He slid around corners as he followed the Beast into the center or the Labyrinth. Adrian's guide halted in front of a massive pair of black doors decorated with the designs of the Lament Configuration. Adrian pushed the heavy doors open. A pillar decorated with various figures, clearly in agony, stood at the center of the room. The cenobites were assembled around it, Pinhead moving about the pillar. All eyes were on Adrian when he entered the room. In any other situation, he would've been terrified in the company of all of them. He recognized many of them, Chatterer, Butterball, even Angelique had made an appearance, but there were some he didn't, the Siamese Twins made him especially nervous, their twisted, shared faces the very stuff nightmares are made of.
"Adrian, why are you here?" Pinhead inquired. "We are having an important discussion concerning your lover."
"I know," Adrian gasped in response. "But it's Victoria. She sent me to tell you that your sons are coming."
Pinheads eyes widened.
"It appears I must go," he addressed the room. "Continue to ponder our plan of action. Chatterer, come with me. An extra pair of hands may be needed."
Pinhead left the room in a flourish of robes and took off down the corridor, Adrian and the Chatter Beast at his heels.
Victoria was on the bed, her brow covered in sweat.
"Ah, fuck!" she cried as a contraction passed.
Pinhead looked down right terrified.
"So what do we do?" Adrian asked.
Pinhead shook his head.
"For once, I am at a loss."
"Well they're not gonna wait for you to make a decision!" Victoria cried, clenching her fists.
Adrian grew pale, the sight of his friend in such pain, and the realization that she would soon be giving birth to twins vaginally with no pain killers, made him queasy. Pinhead scooped Victoria up into his arms.
"Follow me!" he called to the others as he left the room. He led them to a room not too far down the corridor. A large pool of steaming water lay at its center.
"A hot spring?" Adrian observed.
Pinhead nodded before quickly stripping out of his robes. Adrian raised an eyebrow, but kept his comments to himself. Pinhead narrowed his eyes at Adrian as if he knew what the young man was thinking.
"Now is not the time, my friend," Pinhead said.
Adrian chuckled.
"My bad."
Pinhead helped Victoria out of her robes before ushering her into the pool and situating her between his legs. He hoped that the contact combined with the hot water would provide some comfort, as minimal as it was. She laid her head back against his shoulder.
"I love you," she said.
"And I love you," he replied.
Adrian smiled at the exchange, tears springing to his eyes. He was thrilled for his unconventional friends. He couldn't wait to finally meet the twins, but his heart was heavy. Dimitri was still Jack Merchant's prisoner. Adrian wished he was there, welcoming Pinhead and Victoria's sons into the world.
"Abraxas and Acheron," Victoria whispered dreamily.
"What?" Pinhead asked.
"The twins," she said as if they'd always been called so.
"Oh," Pinhead gasped. "I see."
He smiled against the top of her head. She drew in a sharp breath through clenched teeth.
"Whenever you are ready," Pinhead reassured.
He turned toward Chatterer, who waded into the water fully dressed. He stood before Victoria, ready to lend a hand when the time came. The Chatter Beast padded over toward Pinhead, sitting on the edge of the pool near his master's head. Adrian came to sit on the other side. The moment of truth was upon them.
Victoria relied heavily on Pinhead for support, both physically and mentally. He muttered words of encouragement in her ear, his hands gently grasping her legs beneath the knees, holding them in place throughout the process. The Chatter Beast, distressed by Victoria's agonized cries, ended up with his head in Adrian's lap, the young man stroking the creature's head reassuringly. Adrian himself watched on with wide eyes. Chatterer had moved closer to Victoria. His leader had entrusted him with seeing his children safely into the world and he'd be damned if he fucked it up. He knelt before Victoria as the eldest twin began to present himself.
With a strong push, Abraxas exited his mother's womb and entered the hands of his father's second in command. Time itself seemed to stand still as the infant was lifted out of the bloody water and presented to the world. Abraxas took his first breath, unleashing a strong cry on the exhale. Adrian sprang up, grabbing a length of black cloth from the floor beside him. He waded into the pool himself, Chatterer placing the child in the young man's arms and turning back to Victoria. Adrian's breath caught in his throat as the pale baby met Adrian's gaze with his startlingly blue eyes. He was perfect; other than his pale skin, he didn't show any signs of being a cenobite. His head was covered with a thick fuzz of dark hair.
Mere minutes later, Acheron joined his brother in the world, just as healthy and perfect as his predecessor. Victoria fell limp against Pinhead, panting heavily.
"Well done, my love," he whispered, tears welling in the demon's eyes. "Come on; let us get you out of this water."
He lifted Victoria out of the water, wrapping her in cloth, and carried her back to bed. Adrian followed, Abraxas in his arms. Chatterer brought up the rear with Acheron. The pair held the twins before their exhausted mother. She extended a hand to stroke each tiny head.
"Perfect," she whispered before slipping into unconsciousness.
~[ ]~
Victoria awoke sometime later, somewhat disoriented and feeling considerably lighter.
"Hey there, mommy," Adrian said from her bedside. He held Acheron in his arms.
"Hey," she smiled. She held out her arms and Adrian placed the younger twin into them.
"They're beautiful, Tori," he said. "If only Dimitri were here to see them."
A tear fell from her eye.
"Or my mom," she observed. "What do you think she'd say about this?"
Adrian smiled.
"She'd flip," he laughed.
Victoria smiled.
"Yeah, she would," she said. "Maybe one day she'll see them."
Adrian nodded.
"I've never seen Pinhead smile so much," Adrian whispered with a smirk. "It's adorable, in a weird way."
The proud father was pacing the room bare-chested with Abraxas sleeping against his shoulder. He was murmuring soothingly to the infant.
"And Leviathan's finally spoken," Adrian said. "Now that he's seen the babies, he knows what to expect. They are cenobites, even though they don't look it right now. Once they've fully matured they'll begin the transformation. I guess all the mutilation will fuck up their growth or something. And you're probably the luckiest parents ever. They don't eat, which means they don't poop. No diapers for you!"
"Lucky me," Victoria said with a smile.
Pinhead turned to her, a radiant smile illuminating his face. He came to the bed and slid in beside her.
"Who would have thought that a creature such as myself could take part in the creation of something so perfect?" he asked no one in particular.
Victoria put her head against his shoulder.
"When that box showed up on my doorstep, I never would've imagined it would lead me here," Victoria said.
~[ ]~
Victoria sat on the bed with the twins in front of her. They were three days old. She smiled down at them. They would be handsome men someday, in the sense that their father was handsome. The cenobite in them would grant the twins eternal youth and immortality, but also came with the burden of becoming grotesque demons. Their transformation would be nowhere near as traumatic as that of their parents. They weren't human even though they looked it more than cenobite. As Leviathan had explained to Victoria, the twins' bodies were adapted for the mutilations to come. While it would still be painful, their recovery time would be minimal; muscles, bones, and nerve endings would easily adapt to their eventual exposure.
Pinhead entered the room. A frown crossed her face.
"Victoria, I have to go," he said. "Please do not look at me like that. It has already been too long. Dimitri needs us."
"I know," she said. "But I worry that something will happen that I'll lose you, we'll lose you."
He sat on the bed and took her into his arms.
"I promise I will return to the three of you. And I will keep Adrian safe."
She nodded. He leaned down to kiss her. He released her and bent to kiss his sons. He strode to the door.
"I love you," he said before leaving.
"I love you, too," she replied.
Tears fell from her eyes as she watched him leave.
ENDNOTE: There's probably only gonna be two to three more chapters. I'm hoping to get them up fairly quickly because my writer's block seems to have been lifted. Hooray!
To clear things up, just in case there's any questions, the twins ARE cenobites, even though they don't look it. Laura 101 posed a good point: Pinhead and Victoria are genetically human, so the twins wouldn't be born with any mutilations because they're not part of their parents' genetic code, but there's still the fact that they are no longer human. It's like if two vampires had a baby (and in some stories they can), it wouldn't be a human, even though its parents were born so. There's no concrete explanation (and trust me, I've looked) for how cenobites are actually made. I've taken a lot of creative liberties in this series in regards to so, basing everything off of what I've seen in the films. The mutilations are obviously inflicted as a form of torture, but then the blood appears to be drained from the body and replaced with a blue fluid (reference Dr. Channard's transformation in Hellbound: Hellraiser II or the creation of the Siamese Twins in Bloodline). I'm assuming that the blue fluid is what sustains the mutilations, keeping them from healing or being infected and keeping them from causing any obvious discomfort to the cenobite that bears them. This fluid changes the anatomy of the cenobite, but I have no idea how it effects them on a genetic level. In the case of the twins, they were born with this fluid present in their bodies, instead of having it injected into them, making their bodies able to withstand their eventual transformation. Call it Ofo's Theory of Cenobite Transformation. Since none of this shit actually exists, it can't be proven or disproven. Also, I realized that mutilated babies would be kinda fucked up :/
